Another really nice show from 78, good stuff
throughout, the Wharf Rat>SugarMag is right up there. As is the case with alot of these auds, the quality of the sound is the issue, this is below average.

"Not bad either?" This version of Jack Straw is up there with the best ever. The band gets so excited that they nearly strum the strings off their instruments. Nearly six minutes of energy.

Deal also is amazingly energetic, the final two minutes of the song consisting of Donna and Jerry screaming out "Don't you let that Deal go down" over and over and over agin. Whew-white powdery substances anyone?

For me...for Deal to be good it's got to be very good since it's rock-n-roll repeatition and not my favorite Dead vibe. Well...they smoke this one for sure. Easily one of the most energetic I've heard.

The Jack Straw isn't bad either. I actually had it tacked on one of my oldest tapes, which brought me to this page. I think '78 and pre-Brent '79 were the years Jack blossomed. Check out Nassau and MSG January '79 for some other great Jacks.

This was the second Grateful Dead concert I had attended. I saw the band twice when I was going to school in Nashville. I remembered that this show was full of energy. I remembered correctly.

The show is noteworthy for 3 songs in particular -Deal, which just goes on and on and on - I counted 43 "Don't you let that deal go down" repeats which must be some kind of record. Wharf Rat may be the most dramatic reading of that song I've ever heard. And Sugar Magnolia has a terrific jam after the verses.

It is amazing how loud the band was able to get in those arena days. This actually cuts both ways because that level of volume was a factor of the band's change in sound, from the subtle, nuanced sound of the prior years to a sound that reminds me of a brigade of tanks rolling across the land and flattening everything in sight. The Dead in 1978, at times, was an all out assault. Fun, but bludgeoning.

This is an audience tape that is somewhat faint but it does remind me of the sound in Municipal Auditorium - the echoes that I remember coming off the roof superstructure are there on the tape.

All that shouldn't detract you. This show is a sleeper, not well known, but very much recommended. If nothing else, you have to hear that Deal!